Test Your Palestine IQ Part I

If, like many people, you have clear views on the Arab-Israel conflict, and/or you are convinced that you know how to bring peace to the Middle East--or you just want to see how much you know, you are invited to try the following quiz.

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Daniel Pinner, 10/01/10 00:07

D. Pinner

INN: D.P.

Daniel Pinner

Daniel Pinner is a veteran immigrant from England, a teacher and an electrician by profession; a Torah scholar who has been active in causes promoting Eretz Israel and Torat Israel.

Answer the questions here and in part II (next article), but don't check them until you are finished. Check your score at the end of part II.

1. As is well known, Palestine is the Holy Land for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Palestine’s sanctity in Islam is expressed in the fact that the Koran mentions Palestine:a) 1,034 times;b) 837 times;c) 408 times;d) 1 time;e) never.

2. Jerusalem is the third holiest city for Islam (after Mecca and Medina). In honour of this status, the Koran refers to Jerusalem as:a) Al-Kuds (“The Holy”);b) Al-Medina al-Kuds (“The Holy City”);c) Urusalim (“Jerusalem”);d) Al-Kibla al-Awalani (“The First Direction [of prayer]”);e) By no name, because Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran.

3. The Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is one of Islam’s holiest The Koran refers to Jerusalem as...shrines. In accordance with this sanctity, Moslems pray on the Temple Mount:a) facing the Dome of the Rock;b) in the north-west section, to face the Dome and Mecca simultaneously;c) standing facing the Dome of the Rock, kneeling facing Mecca;d) facing the Dome of the Rock for certain prayers, Mecca for others;e) kneeling facing Mecca, their backsides towards the Dome of the Rock.

4. The Jewish claim to the Holy Land is that God promised it to them. Moses – the Jewish national leader – is quoted as saying: “O my people! Remember the bounty of God upon you…and gave you that which had not been given to anyone before you amongst the nations. O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has decreed for you”. This speech of Moses is recorded in:a) the Book of Exodus;b) the Book of Isaiah;c) the Talmud;d) the Midrash;e) the Koran (Sura 5:20-21).

5. In popular literature, historical discussions, political debates, and other forums, the Palestinians’ standard claim is that they are:a) the descendants of the Biblical Philistines (a European tribe originating in Crete, who invaded the Holy Land in the early Biblical period);b) the continuation of the Biblical Canaanites (a Hamatic tribe, in perpetual warfare against the Philistines);c) the descendents of the earliest Christians (i.e. Jews);d) an integral part of the Arab nation (a Semitic nation originating in Arabia, and entirely unconnected to the Philistines, the Canaanites, and the Jews);e) all of the above.

6. In the period of history that Palestine was an independent country, its capital city was:a) Jerusalem;b) Jaffa;c) Haifa;d) Ramallah;e) meaningless, because there was never in history an independent country called Palestine, so it never had a capital city.

7. The earliest mention of a place called Palestine in history is:a) in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Genesis, when God commanded Abraham to go to The earliest mention of a place called Palestine in history is...Palestine;b) in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Joshua, when the Israelites conquered Palestine;c) in a stone plaque dating from about 600 BCE, commemorating the Babylonian conquest of Palestine;d) in the New Testament;e) in the year 135 CE, after the European Roman invaders defeated the Jewish revolt in Judea, and re-named the province Palestine.

8. “There is no such country [as Palestine]! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. ‘Palestine’ is alien to us.”Who said these words?a) Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, in a speech to the American Zionist Organisation, 1972;b) Moshe Dayan, Minister of Defence of Israel and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, addressing the General Staff, 1968;c) Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, in his election victory speech, 1996;d) Abba Eban, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, in a speech in 1981;e) Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, a local Arab leader, addressing the British Peel Commission, 1937.

9. “The ‘Palestinian People’ does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the State of Israel.”Who said this?a) Egyptian dictator, President Gamal Abdul Nasser, addressing the Egyptian parliament, a month after the Six Day War, July 1967;b) Jordanian King Hussein, a week before the Six Day War, May 1967;c) Syrian dictator, President Hafez al-Assad, addressing the Arab League, 1994;d) Iraqi dictator President Saddam Hussein, addressing the Iraqi nation in a televised speech, 2002;e) Zahir Muhsein, executive member of the PLO, in an interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw, March 1977.

10. On the eve of Israel’s independence in May 1948, approximately 600,000 Arabs lived in the areas that would soon become the State of Israel. When the War of Independence was over (March 1949), 150,000 Arabs were still there. This is why the UNRWA (United Nations Relief Works Agency) officially recognized that the number of Arab refugees was:a) 450,000;b) 600,000;c) 850,000;d) 1,000,000;e) 1,300,000.